Confused about Healthy Eating

krystinakicksit

Hello!
So I'm getting back into the weight loss game seriously for the first time in about 5 years. I finally have all the tools I need to be successful in the gym except one thing.
I don't know how to eat.

In the last 2 years my body's changed a lot. I weigh a little over 200 and I'm 26 years old. My lowest weight was at 149 when I was 21 years old. My dad passed away and I got out of an abusive relationship that year and started dating my best friend a year later. We've been together 4 years and can't be happier! Except now I finally feel the emotional support I needed is here and I finally want to get back in shape.

I suffer from a heel spur so I don't do any high impact traiming, and just started using the eliptical for 15 minutes before doing a bunch of ab stuff and then body strength training. My workouts usually 1 hour to an hour and a half.

I know mostly that I should stick to clean foods. But I have no idea what my calories should be. Even with an app like this, my activity per day varies. Some days I workout then work 9 hours in in home senior care, so then I am usually cleaning all day in addition to my workout.

Other days I'll have one shift and just want a day for me to be lazy.

I also just can't seem to figure out what my body really needs. Today I had cereal with a banana but then I was still hungry so ended up snacking on brownies. I know their bad but they filled me up and now I'm at work!

Just, I am so confused. Calculators confuse me. Diets confuse me. I just want to be healthy! Help!

Unknown

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tcunbeliever

As a general rule, having a job where you sit would make you Sedentary, and workouts are not enough hours in the day to change that. However, it doesn't sound like you have a desk job, so try Lightly Active as a setting and see how many calories MFP gives you. Then, you can key in your workouts if you need extra calories on workout days, or you can just ignore the workout calories if you are not feeling terribly hungry.

cmriverside

Yeah, I'm with suzanne.

Eat the foods you like, record everything in your Food page here and then study your Food page and figure out where you can make changes. For me it was:

I needed more protein, and fewer carbs ( I didn't eat much protein in the beginning.)
I cut back on bread/crackers/cereals.
I added a vegetable to every meal.
I started measuring and weighing everything so I had reasonably good data.


Then it's just time and consistency.

mfc9787

" Today I had cereal with a banana but then I was still hungry so ended up snacking on brownies. I know their bad but they filled me up and now I'm at work!"

Sounds like you might need some protein with breakfast. Have you tried a hard boiled egg or putting some peanut butter on your banana? A lot of the time I have a smoothie at home and bring a hard boiled egg to work with me, it helps hold me over until lunch.

I would say log what your normally eat for the first week and maybe keep "food notes" like you were hungry an hour later after eating breakfast. Then look at how much calories you're eating, how you felt, and the nutrient breakdown and make small changes from there until you find what works for you. For example, while logging last week i realized that I'm often under on protein and over on carbs so I searched on pinterest for some high protein/low carb recipes to add to my rotation.

Do you wear a fitness tracker? That would help adjust your activity points for each day.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

RachelElser

Forgot 'clean' foods- that's people trying to shill you. Just eat within your calorie range, and if you want junk food EAT IT. In a single portion size. One snack size bad of chips, half a hershey bar, one scoop of ice cream, etc. If you deny yourselves those things completely, it's not really sustainable in the long run.
Also, congrats on getting out and finding a good guy!! Good luck!

rmgnow

If I were you, I'd enter my stats into MFP. Set the activity level for sedentary so you don't suffer when you're on your lazy days and just eat your allotted daily calories.
Eat back your exercise calories and you'll be fine

Lounmoun

Weight management is about calories. CICO.

My Fitness Pal will give you a calorie goal based on your gender, age, height, weight, daily activity level without exercise and selected rate of loss. This will give you a calorie deficit and you can eat all those calories. You can eat any food and lose weight as long as the calories fit your goal. Log what you consume as accurately as you can.
With MFP if you exercise you are supposed to log it and eat some of those calories. Many people eat only half to compensate for overestimated calorie burns.

Choosing your activity level- If you get less than 5,000 steps a day most days you are sedentary- desk job. If you are on your feet walking all day or have a very physical job most days then you are not sedentary... probably want to choose the next activity level up at least.
Choosing rate of loss- If you are 50+ lbs overweight you might choose to lose 2 lbs a week. If you are 50 lbs or less overweight 1 lb a week is probably more reasonable though.

What to eat-
My advice is to start out eating the foods you would normally eat and log as accurately as you can. You want a diet you can sustain long term so you can maintain your loss and live comfortably in your world.
Learn portion sizes that are right for you. It can be helpful to prelog your food to meet your goals better. A food scale can be a valuable tool.
You can make gradual changes to your diet like getting more protein or adding more vegetables to your meals or switching to lower calorie drinks.

It is a good idea to get enough protein, fats and fiber. These things generally help with satisfaction or fullness. If you are eating enough calories but still hungry look at how much you are eating of these things.

You do not have to "eat clean" to have a healthy diet. A healthy diet is eating the foods that meet your body's needs. Your body needs protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. There are a variety of ways to eat healthy. Eat most of your calories from foods that have more nutrients. Using a lot of calories on low nutrient foods is not as healthy.

http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/nutrition/facts.cfm

OliveGirl128

krystinakicksit wrote: »

Hello!
So I'm getting back into the weight loss game seriously for the first time in about 5 years. I finally have all the tools I need to be successful in the gym except one thing.
I don't know how to eat.

In the last 2 years my body's changed a lot. I weigh a little over 200 and I'm 26 years old. My lowest weight was at 149 when I was 21 years old. My dad passed away and I got out of an abusive relationship that year and started dating my best friend a year later. We've been together 4 years and can't be happier! Except now I finally feel the emotional support I needed is here and I finally want to get back in shape.

I suffer from a heel spur so I don't do any high impact traiming, and just started using the eliptical for 15 minutes before doing a bunch of ab stuff and then body strength training. My workouts usually 1 hour to an hour and a half.

I know mostly that I should stick to clean foods. But I have no idea what my calories should be. Even with an app like this, my activity per day varies. Some days I workout then work 9 hours in in home senior care, so then I am usually cleaning all day in addition to my workout.

Other days I'll have one shift and just want a day for me to be lazy.

I also just can't seem to figure out what my body really needs. Today I had cereal with a banana but then I was still hungry so ended up snacking on brownies. I know their bad but they filled me up and now I'm at work!

Just, I am so confused. Calculators confuse me. Diets confuse me. I just want to be healthy! Help!

Nope, 'clean' food is a completely subjective and arbitrary term.

In terms of weight loss it doesn't matter what kinds of food you eat-you just need to hit the correct calorie deficit for your weight loss goals, (you don't need to exercise either if you don't want to).

Eat the foods that you enjoy, just in the correct calorie amounts. As you go further along in this process you'll realize some of the foods you eat aren't worth the calories-at least on a regular basis, you'll start to find lower calorie substitutions for some of the higher calorie foods you eat, and then you'll discover new, low calorie foods that you can add to your diet, (veggies are really great for this-expand your horizons and find new veggies that you can incorporate into you menu plan).

Francl27

Pick lightly active on MFP and eat that. On days when you workout, add 200 calories or so. That should do it.

farmgirlco

Relser wrote: »

Forgot 'clean' foods- that's people trying to shill you. Just eat within your calorie range, and if you want junk food EAT IT. In a single portion size. One snack size bad of chips, half a hershey bar, one scoop of ice cream, etc. If you deny yourselves those things completely, it's not really sustainable in the long run.
Also, congrats on getting out and finding a good guy!! Good luck!

THIS. This is why I'm leaving weight watchers and coming back here. The new program is not sustainable for me because even a single serving of junk food once a week "derails" you and you are not supposed to eat back activity points - great if you only earn 200 extra a day but when you earn 600-1000 typically due to being on your feet a lot - NOT SUSTAINABLE!!

jaci66

Start. That's it, just start. Start by logging everything you eat. Be honest with yourself and don't beat yourself up over your logs. After a week, look over them and see how you can change what your are eating. Start by being conscious of what you are eating. Start getting rid of the processed foods, but if you crave them - eat one serving. It's all a learning curve for all of us. What works for Person A won't work for Person B, etc. If there is something that you just won't give up - work that into your food plan. I love potato chips. I still eat potato chips. I only buy the single serving bags at the store at that time I want them.

I agree with the poster above who said set yourself to Lightly Active. You can always change that as you move forward.

I also have heel spurs - both heels. Sometimes it makes things harder. But, I started out slowly walking - just around the block and now, I can put in 10 to 15 miles a day without blinking.

Try cooking everything you eat. Get fresh foods as opposed to processed ones. Even if it is just one meal a week, it's a start.

Proteins and fats are essential to your body, as is drinking water. They will help keep you feeling full. After a short while, you'll find yourself looking for alternatives to the things you love that you can stick too. Mine is Milky Way bars. I love them, but consider them empty calories now. I found a nice alternative to them in the Atkins products. It's a Chocolate Caramel Mousse Bar. It has been a perfect substitute.

HeidiCooksSupper

A great site for learning how to "eat healthy" is https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

In particular, the name of this page speaks for itself: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/

nvmomketo

I have found that sticking with whole foods (what some people call clean foods) seems to help me lose weight. Once I add in refined flours and sugars my weight loss stalls and can reverse itself. If I stick to food I can recognize in its original form, it tends to be healthier foods IMO. That would include meat, veggies, and some fruit - my main exceptions are dairy (cheese) and some oils liek coconut or olive.

I also found that playing with my macros helped. A moderate level of protein (80-90g for me) and a higher level of fat tends to carry me longer between meals - possibly because there is no blood sugar roller coaster a couple of hours later. Bacon and eggs might be a better way to start your day. Changing my food choices helped me immensely.

Try not to think of it as an all or nothing thing. People slip up. I did. Managing weight is a long term thing. Most people have to actively do it. Very few people will live their whole lives without consciously managing what and how much they eat. I found accepting that this is a life long thing helped me a bit.

Good luck.

mcdaley896

You should start by tracking what you eat. Stay within your calorie range. Pick foods that will keep your satisfied longer and not spike your blood sugar. I'm talking whole foods, not processed crap with chemicals. Pick whole fruits for something sweet. Included a good balance of good fats like avocado, extra virgin olive oil, almonds, walnuts. Even try some grass-fed butter. I like to pick grass fed proteins like chicken, beef, turkey. I eat fish at least 4 times week and love smoke salmon. I make my own salad dressing using olive oil and flavored vinegars. It's so much better then the fake crap that is out there. It takes 21 days to break a habit. Try eating clean, healthy, unprocessed foods and see how you feel. I also make sure that 50 - 75% of meals are some type of vegetable!

GottaBurnEmAll

This post is pretty helpful in explaining all the basics. I don't think anything explains it better:

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

I agree with those who say to just start tracking everything, and initially, you might want to keep a separate manual journal where you make note of things like how soon you got hungry after eating certain meals so you can spot patterns.

Certain macronutrient (carbohydrates, fats, proteins) can leave people feeling hungry, and as you progress, you'll find through trial and error what leaves you feeling fullest. There aren't really any hard and fast rules for this because it's pretty much an individual thing.

If you're current choices are leaving you hungry, analyze their make up, and try something up. So to illustrate, you ate cereal and a banana. That's pretty much all carbs with a small amount of protein from milk. You were hungry shortly after, ate brownies (fat and carbs), and they filled you up.

This suggest that maybe fat and carbs might make a better breakfast choice. Try toast with peanut butter instead of cereal and see if that helps.

lemurcat12

krystinakicksit wrote: »

I know mostly that I should stick to clean foods. But I have no idea what my calories should be. Even with an app like this, my activity per day varies. Some days I workout then work 9 hours in in home senior care, so then I am usually cleaning all day in addition to my workout.

Other days I'll have one shift and just want a day for me to be lazy.

I also just can't seem to figure out what my body really needs. Today I had cereal with a banana but then I was still hungry so ended up snacking on brownies. I know their bad but they filled me up and now I'm at work!

Sounds like you have a couple of questions:

(1) how many calories?

(2) what to eat (for health, nutrition, and satiety)?

For calories, start with what MFP tells you. If you are consistently sedentary about half the week and very active (setting aside planned exercise) about half the week you can start with an average and choose lightly active or even active (I'd probably start with lightly active). You then would log back planned exercise and eat some of the calories from that too. OR, if it varies from week to week, choose sedentary and log steps/some of the walking time (a pedometer makes this easy).

I'd probably start with the lightly active + planned exercise and a little more on really active work days, as that's simplest.

For what to eat, if you are interested in what a healthful diet is, this is a great source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate/

BUT people often do better starting with where they are and making more gradual changes. When you log, pay attention to what you eat and how it makes you feel, and if some breakfasts (with more protein and fiber, for example) make you less likely to be hungry, focus on that. Also try different eating schedules to see what works for you.

For me, I find it's helpful to eat only 3 meals, not to snack (snacking just makes me think about food more), and to make protein+vegetables the backbone of all meals, but other strategies may end up working for you -- logging helps you learn what they are!

jtyack

I agree with others here that you START by just logging what you currently eat, then gradually work in some strategies to improve. You shouldn't try to change your whole lifestyle overnight.

If you want some fairly easy to comprehend guidelines for what constitutes a "healthy diet" the DASH eating plan is a pretty good place to look... it was developed to lower blood pressure using food, so it focuses a lot on limiting sodium, but it also gives great guidelines for appropriate portion sizes and balancing the different types of foods. IMHO, just a healthy, balanced way of eating.

For some good info, read this: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/new_dash.pdf

OliveGirl128

jtyack wrote: »

I agree with others here that you START by just logging what you currently eat, then gradually work in some strategies to improve. You shouldn't try to change your whole lifestyle overnight.

If you want some fairly easy to comprehend guidelines for what constitutes a "healthy diet" the DASH eating plan is a pretty good place to look... it was developed to lower blood pressure using food, so it focuses a lot on limiting sodium, but it also gives great guidelines for appropriate portion sizes and balancing the different types of foods. IMHO, just a healthy, balanced way of eating.

For some good info, read this: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/new_dash.pdf

Now a few years into maintenance, and after experimenting with several different woe's, I recently tried the DASH protocol and absolutely love it It fits really well with my eating preferences and I like the way it's set up. I agree-it's a great guideline for a balanced diet!

eta: here's more info on DASH if anyone is interested-the first link gives different calorie intakes, which is really helpful

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/dash/followdash

http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/dash-diet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/dash-the-proven-healthy-diet-that-just-hasnt-caught-on/2017/04/03/5da47e24-1558-11e7-9e4f-09aa75d3ec57_story.html?utm_term=.42e00a7736ae